Kathy Guider, a former Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI, told WIBC’s Hammer and Nigel show that Monday’s update on the Delphi investigation into the 2017 murders of two teenagers was likely prompted by the discovery of evidence that had just recently been uncovered by detectives.
“They have new information and new leads,” said Guider, who worked for the Indianapolis division of the FBI for 23 years. “They wouldn’t have done this if they were at a standstill. So something has come in – some sort of new information – and they are trying to work that information.”
Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, vanished while hiking in their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis, in February 2017. Their bodies were found in the woods the day after they disappeared.
German and Williams’ killer likely has close connections to the community, police said Monday.
“Directly to the killer — who may be in this room — we believe you are hiding in plain sight,” Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said during a news conference. “We likely have interviewed you or someone close to you.”
“For more than two years, you never thought we would shift gears, but we have,” he said. “We know this is about power to you, and you want to know what we know. And one day you will.”
Former Supervisory Special Agent Guider told Hammer and Nigel that it’s not uncommon for investigators to withhold information from the public during an active investigation.
“The purpose of holding information back is to ensure that not everything is out there in the public,” said Guider. “That way, if you find a suspect, everything is not out there and you can discover what [the suspect] knows.”
Guider also speculated that video evidence and sketch updates related to the Delphi case could have been prompted by technical improvements in the processing of existing evidence, which would have allowed for better quality and accuracy in materials released to the general public.
Police released a new sketch of the suspect Monday, which bears little resemblance to the one they released in July 2017, prompting speculation that detectives are starting from ground zero in their investigation. Former Supervisory Special Agent Guider disagrees with that assessment.
“Maybe new resources were used; maybe a new witness came forward, [but] I think this is a good sign,” said Guider.
Click the link below to hear Hammer and Nigel’s full interview with former Supervisory Special Agent Kathy Guider.
Click here to watch the suspect video on the ISP website.
For more information, visit the Indiana State Police website.
(Photo provided by the Indiana State Police.)
